[mock trial intro] move 'em on, head 'em up

[consolemods]

Whatever you were doing before you got here, it isn't what you're doing now. What you're doing now is waking up in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room with... unfamiliar glasses on your face. No matter what you can do, you can't take those glasses off... but if you roll your eyes down, you'll be given a rundown of what's going on here.

Hmm. Well, that's probably a little unnerving. Maybe you should... leave? Fortunately, your room's not locked, but as you go downstairs and try and ask the locals what's going on, you'll find they're... less than cooperative. And if you go outside the inn and try to leave into the town... well, you'll find several locations around the town, but you'll also find that you can't seem to leave.

Well. Maybe you should talk to the other people who just showed up here. All the locals are going to tell you is an explanation is forthcoming, so you might want to kill some time getting to know each other.

Comments

[fuckthemancers]

Town Square

[Well, there sure is a lot of a cluster going on in the Saloon itself, to put it politely. Perhaps it's no wonder that someone has slipped out of it while everyone was busy with yelling, or getting into fights. Instead, the man in the long skirt and too many stripes is sitting on the edge of the well, gingerly touching the strange glasses on his face.]

[There are dark circles under his eyes, and his brow is crumpled together. He looks like he's had a shit day, and the day hasn't even started. To be fair to.... wherever this is, he came in like this.]

Was all of that a nightmare...?

[At the sound of someone else approaching, however, he looks up and tries to school his face into a polite smile. It's not a bad try.]

Oh, good morning. [A quick glance over the individual.] You're not local to here either right...?

[helldestiny]

Pff. Do I look like I belong here? Please.

[She puts a hand on her hip.]

Way too primitive for me.

[fuckthemancers]

[Against all odds, cocky bullshit almost seems to put him at ease and his shoulders lose some of their tension.]

The strange spectacles did give you away.

So none of this seems familiar to you either, I'm going to guess.

[helldestiny]

Nope, not at all. I take it you know nothing too?

[fuckthemancers]

I know I need a smoke.

[Ha. Ha.]

There wasn't anything in your room, right? I only found clothes and paper in mine.

[helldestiny]

Nope, just these stupid glasses and what you found.

[She has...a thought, but first]

What's the year for you?

[fuckthemancers]

Ah, well, that depends. Are we talking the Cael or Tazal calendar? You don't seem like either to me, but...

[Well, he doesn't look like he belongs in Caelondia either.]

[cantread]

[Sissel is just going to stare at Zulf.

Why are you talking to a cat, it's not like a cat will talk back, right?

Well actually he probably will in a moment, he's just trying to figure out what to say. Sissel is nothing if not patient.]

tw vague suicide ideation

[fuckthemancers]

[Hey, he has talked to worse things than something that looks soft and fluffy and isn't trying to tear out his ankles. Besides, it's not like most animals he's ever seen, despite having gone through the Wild Unknown, so he'll assume it's decent enough. After a moment, he huffs out a small laugh that doesn't sound particularly glad at all.]

They even put these strange things on animals... I must be intoxicated, or otherwise dead.

[Carefully, he leans down just enough to offer his hand. Most animals are the same, especially when they're tamed.]

Well. You get what you wish for, right?

[cantread]

[SNIFF SNIFF Zulf smells like a decent person, at least. Sissel will allow his presence.

Once he is satisfied with the smelling, he will sit back and peer up at Zulf.]

What did you wish for?

1/4

[fuckthemancers]

Dying, I suppose. To go back-

2/4

[fuckthemancers]

[wait]

3/4

[fuckthemancers]

[what the fuck is with all these talking animals]

[fuckthemancers]

[As his brain stutters back into functioning properly, he whispers to himself.]

The intoxicated idea is starting to have more weight.

[cantread]

Normally 'dying' would be the right answer here, but I don't see a core on you, so you're probably still alive.

['Probably.']

Why do you want to die anyway? It's not fun.

[fuckthemancers]

['Probably'. How reassuring.]

I don't think 'fun' was something I'll- I'd be seeing for a while. There was... a calamity.

[Reaching back up to his face, he presses his fingers against the side of his nose and takes in a deep breath.]

A very bad one.

[wplusm1]

[ Asking a cat might have been unwise. Unwiser is asking... whoever this is. But Zulf's luck is actually in his favor today, because they can understand him!

They look to their left, then right. Seeing no one, they point at themself and tilt their head. ]

?

[fuckthemancers]

[Against all odds, the person covered head to toe in strange equipment is somehow more normal to see than the talking cat. Zulf nods, hands folded on his lap.]

Yes. I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself first. My name is Zulf, of the Ura.

[wplusm1]

[ That's... that's a greeting, right? Pyro didn't understand the words Zulf was using, but they manage to pick out that "Zulf" is this guy's name.

They wave a hand. ] Hrrgugh.

[ That... might have been a greeting. We just don't know. ]

[fuckthemancers]

[....Oh. Well. That's an obvious problem. Zulf pauses, unsure for a split second of how to proceed, before he pats the space next to him.]

Do you want to sit?

[Best to keep things simple.]

[condemnedone]

No.

[ He folds his arms. ]

What were you talking about to yourself a moment ago? Do you know anything about any of this?

[fuckthemancers]

[Ah. Regaining his composure, Zulf straightens up and squares his shoulders.]

Before I arrived here, I was either celebrating with my friends or it was the end of the world. What you overheard was my attempt at puzzling out my own situation.

[condemnedone]

You were either celebrating OR it was the end of the world? How could you not tell which of the two it was?

[ He'd...think he'd be able to tell either/or just fine. ]

[fuckthemancers]

I should mention that the celebrating involved rather copius amounts of alcohol of... questionable reputation.

[And no one wants to accept the end and loss of everything, but he won't say that.]

[condemnedone]

... And you still didn't have an idea of which one it was? I'd think the end of the world would be a pretty important detail to make sure of. Then again, I've never been one to drink myself into a idiotic stupor.

[ Like, honestly. ]